One fast year just flew by and there were so many things I wanted to do, but just didn't get around to it. Serving as Club President had a little bit to do with that and that's something I want to address. The benefits of serving as the Club "Prez" for a year, maybe two.

First, I want to thank the Board members for putting up with me despite my direct actions and attitude. I know it took a lot of patience at times, but you did well. For those finishing out their term and moving on, I'll miss you at the Board meetings. For those continuing, thanks for sticking around and I hope we can accomplish more. For those just joining, welcome, and expect to be asked for ideas and directions.

Second, I want to thank the membership for allowing me to serve and even more, for allowing me to continue to serve. There are some problems that need to be overcome, like the need for some members to fill vacant Committee chairs, but I'm still looking forward to the coming year. No, you don't have to be crazy to do this, but it helps. Actually there are some great benefits that one receives in this position.

I've had the opportunity to meet, and spend some time with, some outstanding people.
They've called on me to work a little harder, dig a little deeper, travel a little further and do a little more than I thought I could. All of that has been beneficial to me.

It's also nice to go somewhere and be introduced as the "Prez" of an organization that is widely recognized for what it does, not who it is or what it has. I've had people stop me and ask me a wide range of questions because they had seen my name on something related to the Club and expected a straight, honest answer.

Before becoming the "Prez" I didn't know that many members of the Club or get involved in lots of the Club activities. In the last year a great deal of my time has been spent doing exactly that. In the process I've gotten to know some terrific people by doing simple things like going fishing, volunteering for various activities or just talking to people at the monthly meetings. I've enjoyed some great outings with lots of the members. Some of those were "unofficial" outings, but great just the same. It's a real pleasure to see a group of people with a common ground having that good of a time. It's also been worthwhile to go out with just one or two others and hike into an area to try it out, or share that special place and see them have as much fun as you or just have someone you can talk with. Pretty special group of people in this Club.

I could go on for quite a while, but I won't. I'll just say that the members of COF can take pride in their Club, and all that it does and stands for. Thanks again for letting me serve as the President and I'll try to bring you what you expect and want from me.

Several events are coming up for the Club that you might want to mark on your calendar so you can attend, take part in or maybe even help put on. Here's a quick list to look at:

For February there will be the Annual Fly Tying Demo at Mt. View Mall. Free and open to the public. A chance to learn what some of the local Guides tie, and how to tie them, for different waters around the area.

March will be a busy month with the Annual Awards Banquet set for the first Saturday. This year it will be held at the Bend Boys & Girls Club and will be aimed at recognition more than anything else. One thing guaranteed: It will cost less than last year.

March 7-10 at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds will be the Central Oregon Sports & Rec show and we will be there to man the kids fishing pond again. The funds for manning the pond are paid to the KK fund. If you would care to help out on that let "The Prez" know. NO FISH CLEANING! Just helping the kids catch the fish.

Second Saturday in April will be the 1st (hopefully) Annual COF/KK Fishing Expo. Hope to have lots of shops there, some local "experts" to present fishing conditions reports and do some fundraising for COF and KK. More info will be provided as it becomes available.

Also in April will be the Kid's Angling Clinic at Shevlin Park. That will be the Tues., Wed. and Thurs. of the last two weeks in April. Great place to spend a few days and share your knowledge with the fisheries caretakers of tomorrow.

Some of the other things going on include the Fish Dissection classes thru KK, the spring eggs-to-fry program, Conservation projects and lots of other activities that will be listed in Upstream Events and on a Club Calendar so that you can plan ahead and contribute to COF.

Please introduce yourselves to these folks at our next Meeting and invite them to go fishing at the first opportunity. New members please remember to pick up your copy of "Harry Teal's No Nonsense Guide to Fly Fishing Central and Southeastern Oregon" from Bill Lundy at the Welcome Table at the next Meeting.

Jon Covich will be on hand for December - if you have been in the club over 3 years you have probably seen him before as he used to live in Bend and has done programs for us previously. Jon is the company rep for Winston rods, Outcast floatation, Teton reels, Whiting Farms feather merchants and Patagonia clothing for Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Jon is best known to flyfishers for his photography (and writing) for Fly Fisherman, Fly Rod & Reel and Gray's Sporting Journal. He will do a destinations program in (2) parts - the 1st on New Zealand, concentrating on the do-it-yourself approach and the 2nd on Argentina titled "Southern Hemisphere Trout". My return phone call from Jon on 11/30 was from Denver Airport while on his way to Belize.

Nominees for the COF Board positions and the nominees for Officer positions were both by acclimation at the November Meeting. The Committee positions have not yet been announced. The Officers and the Board are both looking forward to a very productive year in 2002 with a lot of help and suggestions from all of the Members.

Have you noticed that your Newsletter is becoming smaller, shorter and with less information than you are used to having? For the past two months, only three people have furnished the information in the Newsletter. Even though specific requests have been made, no other articles have been contributed. That practice cannot continue!

The Board Members and Committee Chairmen need to supply articles about pertinent information without someone having to remind them. That is expected of them. You, the General Membership, are welcome and encouraged to contribute anything that you think would be interesting - the fly that has just been successful for you, where you used it and how to tie it or what you liked about a particular place to fish. Always welcome would be a report about a trip that you took or articles on any other subjects. Also welcome would be an article on printable pre-meeting chit-chat that occurs, a point of view, a too tall tale, an adventure that you may have had or even questions. Photographs are needed too. It's simply "nothing in - nothing out"!

Our Newsletter needs to be a reflection of the Membership again and not just information from three or four people.

You will have extra time in December because I'm taking my headache on a vacation and will not be working on the Newsletter until the 6th of January instead of the usual cut off date of the 28th - please send your article to rspeik@coinet.com. Because of my vacation, your copy of the Newsletter will not reach you until the week of the January Meeting. Please Help! The Newsletter needs your news!

The COF Conservation program had 31 projects listed this year and 6 of those were cancelled for various reasons. However, it was a very productive year.

The long-range project of Malheur Wildlife Associates, to which COF has been committed, did not have any volunteer dates submitted for this year. It will remain on the Calendar because of the commitment, and MWA will probably have some dates for volunteers in 2002. The Deschutes River Restoration Program, to which we are also committed, did not have any dates for volunteers either. One project did not take place because of a lack of volunteers and maybe it should be replaced by a project of more local interest. One did not happen because of low water flows, another because the COF coordinator saw the lack of COF Member community interest. Paperwork could not be completed in time for the Steens Sage Creek project. The Indian Creek project to eradicate Lahontan/rainbow hybrids did not take place because the plan was to remove the "aliens" above a barrier and later reintroduce Lahontans but pre project study revealed that the barrier no longer existed and alternate plans would have to be put in place at a future date. Therefore the project, as planned, could not take place. The summer camping projects were well attended, as usual, and people signed up for the projects well ahead of time so that they could make plans for summer vacations and visitors and be guaranteed a place on the project.

Lots of volunteers from the previous years seemed to have "burned out" volunteering. The remaining corps group of volunteers needs to have more help from other Members if COF is going to maintain the standards that have been set previously.

It was another successful mission, Saturday, November 3rd. With a vast turnout of 5 people we scoured the river banks from the upper end of Chimney Rock Recreation site upstream to Poison Butte Recreation Site.

But, we were not alone. When I first arrived at Poison Butte that morning, I discovered the Northwest Fly Anglers(?) at the upper end of the Poison Butte Rec. Site. They were (luckily) picking up trash from there on upstream to the dam. I HAD tried earlier in the year, as leader of this project, to coordinate with them and any other fly groups, through the Oregon Council of
FFF, but with no success.

During the pick-up, Len Swanzy one of our COF volunteers, mentioned that he had heard that a few weeks earlier Trout Unlimited (I think?) had cleaned up the same stretch we were that day. Obviously coordination of this project is a little more involved than previously thought! I DID notice that the Northwest Fly Anglers had garbage sacks that said "Adopt A Stream" on them, so
maybe that is the route to organize this project in the future.

Someone else is going to have to pick up the baton, however. I plan to move to Hines, Oregon (contiguous with Burns, Oregon) next year, so will be participating even less in COF projects. It did cross my mind on November 3rd that perhaps this project should be canceled all together due to lack of trash. One gal I talked to from NW Fly Anglers said they had been cleaning up the river for about 5 years (boy is COF behind!) And that there just wasn't that much to pick up any
more. How depressing! Just kidding, folks. How nice to think that perhaps respect for our wild rivers is increasing.

It still was a worthwhile project this year. We gathered several bags of trash. Those other picker uppers must have been slackers compared to COF pickers. Much thanks to all who showed up:
Len Swanzy, Harry Harbin, John Anderson, Gordon Chandler and Raven Wing. And an extra thanks to Gordon for his homemade chili which warmed and fed us well.

Among some members of Central Oregon Flyfishers there is a tradition of going fishing on the first day of the New Year. We have been doing this for over 10 years. We meet for breakfast in the morning on January 1st and afterwards head for the river. This coming new year is no exception. The plan at this time is to meet at Jake's Truck Stop at about 9 am and to head for the Crooked River after breakfast (weather and road conditions permitting). We are still considering various options and accepting recommendations.

If you are interested and want to be informed of our plans please contact Gordon Chandler at 548-6201 or by email: gordon@coinet.com

Note: I didn't remember this article in time for the print edition of the newsletter. If you know of someone that may want to go on this outing and does not read the newsletter online please pass the word along.